Scott Bakula on NCIS: New Orleans: There's a certain mystique about the city

Cape Town - Scott Bakula needs no introduction the veteran TV actor is best known for his roles in the sci-fi series Quantum Leap and Star Trek Enterprise.

In NCIS: New Orleans which airs on Wednesdays at 20:00 on Universal (DStv 117) he plays Special Agent Dwayne Pride.

In this Q&A Bakula talked more about his role, filming in New Orleans and the magic of television.

How does it feel to have a successful start to season 1?

At the moment we're off to a really good start. We're just getting started on what the show could be and what the characters are going to be, and we're still kind of riding the high of crossover episodes in the beginning, and people, you know, Mark (Harmon) and Michael Weatherly coming down, and a bunch of kind of great guest help from the mother ship. But you know, we're finding our own, and we're making it our own, and that's really going to be exciting as we move forward to kind of see what we can carve out, not just sharing, you know, fans, but creating our own fan base for our own show.

What do you enjoy most about playing Dwayne Pride?

This guy can be so many different things, and he's flawed, and somebody that's as passionate as he is, is going to make mistakes because you're letting your heart kind of run things sometimes, and that can get you in trouble. And that's, you know, going to be really fun to explore.

How would you describe New Orleans' unique appeal?

First of all, the city is known around the planet and it has an appeal. I don't think everybody understands what the appeal is, but there's just something about you saying New Orleans, whether it is Mardi Gras, whether it's food, whether it's music. And it could be in any order, but there's a certain mystique about it – and whether it's weather. Whether it has to do with Katrina or something, you know, tragedy, there's a certain element of mystique. And we're in the middle of it all and we're incorporating bits and pieces of all that kind of putting it into our tapestry that we're trying to create for our show.

How is New Orleans used as a character on the show?

Because we don't leave the city, we're not going off on cases, you know, and solving a problem here and then next week solving a problem somewhere else. We're building a cast of characters in the city and using the city as a character to really cement and give you a great sense of where you are. The history of that town, the multi-ethnic generational pull of that town, and the cross-pollination of everything that goes on down there, feels incredibly unique to me. I haven't been all over this planet, but I've been a few places, and it's wild.”

How do the local New Orleanians add to the energy of the show?

Everywhere you go, you meet a character or somebody that's had an experience there that's unique, and they're so – everybody there is so connected to the city and proud to be there and survive. There's a certain kind of war element almost to that town.

Will we get to see more of Pride's musical side as season 1 unfolds?

I'm a musician. He's (Gary Grasberg's) let me play the piano on two episodes, so far. My daughter in the show is a music major at LSU and we've had several episodes that have involved a musician or musician's family, we constantly are citing it, and as a musician myself to be where jazz was birthed is extraordinary to me.

What are the advantages of developing a character for television?

Television is a living, breathing, evolving organism. A film is as you get it, unless there are sequels, four or five sequels, but you get what your character is for that movie, that particular piece of theatre whatever it is. You're confined to that world for those two hours. You create that, you get it, you deliver it, and you walk away. Now we're talking about shaping something that's going to breathe and change and evolve, and decisions that you make now could affect what you want to do, if you're lucky enough, in year three or year two. So, it's a different way to approach things and you can sometimes try things on, too, and say, ah that didn't work well, just like you're trying to figure out what's your wardrobe, what works best, what's your winter coat? You know, you do it with your character, too, a little bit.